There's no interest in a merger, but Jeff Arnold, executive director and chief executive officer of the Association of Rotational Molders International said ARM is ``looking at ways to work with the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. to enhance our relationship.''
``There is no reason why the plastics group shouldn't work together,'' Arnold said at ARM's fall meeting, held Nov. 5-7 in Washington. ``We don't want to merge, but the more we work together, the better it is for the plastics industry.''
As he noted, by working together, SPI can enlist the support of ARM's 400 members as it lobbies in Washington for issues of importance to the industry and ARM would have a ``heads-up and an ear to what's shaping up in Washington'' through SPI.
``It just makes common sense,'' he said. ``What good does it do to have an adversarial relationship?''
Arnold said he agreed with the mantra of SPI President and CEO Bill Carteaux, who has urged the industry to speak together in a unified voice since assuming the reigns of SPI in March 2005.
SPI is based in Washington; ARM is in Oak Brook, Ill.